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Many people seem upset that one 1993 entry in the
National League will be called the Colorado
Rockies
instead of the Denver
Rockies, Bears, Zephyrs,
Grizzlies, Bruins, etc.
They argue that a team should be identified by the city
it plays in, not by the region where it has a strong TV
market: Arlington Rangers, not Texas Rangers, and Anaheim
Angels, not California Angels. The New York
Mets
actually play in some place called Flushing.
In
football, the New York
Giants aren't even in the
right state, let alone the right city, but never do I read
of the East Rutherford Giants or New Jersey Giants.
Personally, if I venture to a major-league game in
Denver for warm beer and cold hot dogs, I won't care if the
home team is called the Denver Bears,
the Lower
Downtown Bruins
or the Rocky Mountain Empire
Zephyrs.
The game's the thing, isn't it?
But if this matter of proper geographic distinctions in nomenclature is indeed important, then there are other names, more significant than mere sporting clubs, which should be changed immediately.
· The High Plains, Great Basin, Plateau, Desert
and Mountain Time Zone. Sure, Mountain Time
is
appropriate for me, although it is not accurate. Here we
operate on Southern Colorado Standard Time: Things happen
when they happen.
But Denver, the largest city in the Mountain
Time
Zone, is the Queen City of the Plains.
How many
mountains can you see from Flasher, N.D., or Tribune, Kan.?
Less than 20 percent of the meager population of this zone
actually lives in the mountains. There are many montane
regions -- Cascades, Sierras, Adirondacks -- not comprised
by the zone. If precision is important in something silly
like sports franchise names, how much more vital is it for
a standard time zone?
· The Colorado Water Board, rather than the
Denver
Water Board. Its members are appointed by the
mayor of Denver, but the influence of this powerful body
extends far beyond the limits of the Mile High City.
Mountain valleys which slumber a hundred miles away and
across a mountain range will be dewatered or drowned by
this body. The economies of distant towns can be devastated
when the board buys up all the ranchers' water rights, or
enhanced by upscale condos with a view of a
tourist-attraction reservoir.
Nor does this immense power stop at state lines. The
Water Board already influences the level of swimming pools
in Los Angeles and the mating of cranes along the Platte in
Nebraska. Even Colorado Water Board
doesn't cover
enough territory -- how about Continental Water
Board
?
· The Front Range General Assembly.
Colorado
General Assembly is much too broad to
indicate the narrow interests of this body. Granted, it
does levy taxes throughout Colorado. However, its spends
that money for the benefit of real-estate speculators in
Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, Boulder and Jefferson counties.
Why else would it have convened a special session to turn
over the state treasury to United Airlines? Have you seen
any evidence that the General Assembly cares about your
health, education or transportation if you don't live in
one of those counties? Give it the right name, so we all
understand what's going on.
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